“Run! Get yourself to safety, please!” Those words rang out in my head, repeated over and over, even when I could no longer see their source. Those constant repetitions only ended when that frightening noise sounded out, echoing around the metal walls of that seemingly never ending hallway.

Even as the garbled noise of the PA tried to interrupt it, the only thing I could hear was those echoes.

The gunshot that would continue to haunt me for the rest of my life.

I bolted upright so quickly that it made my head sear with pain. My heart was racing so fast I could barely identify the individual beats. My whole body was covered in a cold sweat, and I was momentarily unable to identify my surroundings.

After a lot of heavy breathing, the headrush began to fade, and I became more cognizant of the situation.

I had that same dream again.

That same fucking dream.

It had been so long since I last saw it. Of course it would choose now to come back.

Actually, it was probably because of recent events. Going with Mai to the magical girl hideout, throwing a rock at it, getting targeted by that laser, I hadn’t realised just how much stress it had all caused me. And it was stress that always resurfaced that dream. Every time I got found out and had to assume a new identity it began popping back up again.

I need to think things through more next time.

I groggily got up from my bed and checked my phone. 06:37. Even if I could get back to sleep, it wouldn’t be worth it for just 20 minutes anyway. What’s more, I had a message from a familiar username.

卍甘過卍 (Amai)

Sora! Rooftop, 12:45 sharp! Be there!

It wasn’t unusual for Mai to be up this early in the morning, but it was certainly unusual for her to send a message like that. Not in small part because we were gonna see each other class anyway, she could have just said this then. Always the flair for the dramatic.

Why does she want to talk on the roof instead of the classroom though? Was it something that just had to be kept out of the public eye? Like, a confession of love? Wait, why was that the first thing that came to mind?

Putting my hand on my heart, I realised my heart rate still hadn’t properly slowed down from earlier. My adrenaline must have still been pumping. I’ll just blame the suspension bridge effect, I guess.

Now that my head had cleared up, I realised that the clandestine meeting spot probably meant that she wanted to talk about magical girls again. I ignored the faint disappointment that I definitely was not feeling and shot her a text back

嘘つき (You)

I’ll be there

***

Morning lessons had finally ended and lunch had just begun. The four of us were planning to sneak out of the classroom and head to the roof while no one was looking, but we were stopped by the chipper voice of one of our classmates.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Oh? Are Saki’s quartet going somewhere? Rare for the four of you to leave the classroom during lunch.”

“Hmm? Oh, hey Kei. We just have some stuff to talk about in private, that’s all.”

The girl who had called for our attention was Kyoukei Mira, a good friend of Saki’s and the schools resident gossip. In other words, the last person we wanted eavesdropping on this conversation.

“Hmmmmm? In private, eh? Could this have anything to do with you girls hanging around in strange corners of Shibuya yesterday too?” She put her hands behind her back and leaned forward, making an active effort to seem cute and coy. Behind her facade she was very talented at getting information out of people.

“How d’you know about that?” Saki seemed a little off put at Kei’s knowledge of our escapade to the hideout. I was feeling it a bit too. Were we followed?

“A little birdie told me.”

“You seem to have a lot of little birdies lurking around the city. What are you, a spy or something?”

“Spying? Me? Perish the thought, my dear Saki! I just happen to pick up the word on the street every now and then, that’s all.”

The four of us collectively rolled our eyes, none of us buying the excuse for a second. No one on the planet loved gossip more than Kei, nor was anyone as good at it as her. You couldn’t breathe in someone’s direction without wording getting back to her somehow.

“But seriously, girls, that part of Shibuya has some sketchy rumours going around. I’d steer clear of there if I were you.” She changed her voice to a whisper, and suddenly seemed to get more serious. It seemed her warning wasn’t a joke.

“Sketchy rumours? Like what?” Saki urged her to go on.

“Well, you girls have heard about the Toukyouto disappearances, right?” She looked left and right, as if anxious about someone potentially listening in. “Rumour has it, a lot of those girls that went missing were seen in that area of Shibuya right before they vanished. Word on the street is that there’s some small-time Yakuza or something working in that area.”

Despite her previously jovial tone, Kei seemed to now be dead serious, and her concern seemed legitimate.

The event she was talking about was one that we all knew about all too well. A number of female students of the nearby Toukyouto High School had turned up missing in a short amount of time. It had been months since they were last seen.

It followed a sudden uptick in young women in and around Tokyo going missing, so there was a lot of fear circulating around the city recently.

If Kei was saying that that area of Shibuya was linked to Yakuza activity, it was reason enough to be on guard.

“We’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for the warning, Kei.” Saki gave a short bow, seemingly genuinely appreciative for Kei’s concern. The two were pretty close after all.

“Well, that’s all I had to say. You girls stay safe, alright?” Kei waved us out of the door, and the four of us finally made our way to the roof.

***

“I dunno how Kei knew where we were yesterday, but we gotta be careful about being followed in the future.” Said Mai, after checking that no prying ears were waiting around the roof. I hadn’t noticed it much until now, but she seemed sluggish that day. In fact, she looked outright exhausted.

“In the future? What do you mean? We found the hideout, but it’s not like we’re gonna just rock up and knock the front door.” I was concerned about Mai’s apparently eagerness to continue pursuing this magical girl obsession. Between the mysteries surrounding the magical girls themselves and the rumours Kei had just told us about, I was not looking forward to whatever Mai had planned.

“But we have a lead now! That girl we saw yesterday definitely goes to our school, we have a real serious chance to meet a magical girl!”

“And do what? You don’t think she’d be pissed off at us if we somehow found a way to reveal her identity? You don’t think she’d possibly see us as a threat?”

“Magical girls are on the side of justice though. They’d never hurt civilians, especially if we swear we won’t tell anyone who they are.”

“We only know that they fight the cultists. We know so little about both groups that we can’t say for certain that they’re non-hostile. This is a dangerous plan, Mai.”

Sparks seemed to fly as we argued. Even if we were both staying civil, it was clear that we weren’t seeing eye to eye. I was thinking about how reckless she was being, and she was likely thinking that I’m too risk averse. Her complete disregard for her own safety was something that had caused friction between us before.

“Well, whatever. It’s not like you’re just gonna happen across that girl’s identity some day, so I suppose none of this matters anyway.” I wanted to prevent this from escalating to a bigger argument, so I tried to brush it aside with that comment.

“Keh keh keh. That’s where you’re wrong, dear Sora.” Mai, however, seemed to have other plans. “For you see, I have THIS!”

She held her hand high above her head, and in it was an enormous black binder.

I immediately had a bad feeling.